Intranasal oxytocin increases fathers’ observed responsiveness during play with their children: A double-blind within-subject experiment
Abstract
Recent correlational studies showed that oxytocin is associated with parenting style in humans as in other mammals. Here the first double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject experiment with intranasal oxytocin administration is presented. Subjects were 17 fathers with their toddler, observed in two play sessions of 15 min each with an intervening period of 1 week. In the oxytocin condition fathers were more stimulating of their child's exploration than in the placebo condition, and they tended to show less hostility. Parent training experiments might be combined with intranasal oxytocin administration to test differential and cumulative effects of traditional, interaction-focused versus pharmaceutical treatments.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject designed study, Naber et al. (2010) found that fathers who were administered oxytocin before play sessions with their preschool children were significantly less hostile and more structuring of play to involve the child than in the control condition.
“In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject designed study, Naber et al. (2010) found that fathers who were administered oxytocin before play sessions with their preschool children were significantly less hostile and more structuring of play to involve the child than in the control condition.”
From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Naber et al. (2010)
Experimentally increased oxytocin levels led to more stimulatory play in fathers.
“while experimentally increased oxytocin levels led to more stimulatory play in fathers (Naber, Van IJzendoorn, Deschamps, Van Engeland, & Bakermans‐Kranenburg, 2010).”
From Birth of a Father: Fathering in the First 1,000 Days (2019) · cites this paper as Naber et al., 2010
Experimental manipulation of oxytocin facilitates positive interactions, cooperation, and trust.
“Research suggests the experimental manipulation of oxytocin facilitates positive interactions, cooperation and trust.”
From Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality (2012) · cites this paper as Naber, van Ijzendoorn, Deschamps, van Engeland, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2010
Intranasal oxytocin made fathers less hostile and motivated them to foster exploration behavior in their children.
“Furthermore, OXT IN made fathers less hostile and motivated them to foster exploration behavior in their children (47).”
From Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships (2016) · cites this paper as [47]
Oxytocin administration increased fathers' stimulatory and exploratory play with their toddlers.
“Naber et al. (65) similarly found that OT administration increased fathers' stimulatory and exploratory play with their toddlers”
From Oxytocin administration to parent enhances infant physiological and behavioral readiness for social engagement (2012) · cites this paper as [65]
Oxytocin impacts the father-specific behavioral repertoire.
“indicating that OT impacts the father-specific behavioral repertoire.”
From Oxytocin administration to parent enhances infant physiological and behavioral readiness for social engagement (2012) · cites this paper as [65]
Intranasal administration of OT increases infant-directed sensitive play behaviours.
“increases infant-directed sensitive play behaviours (36).”
From Neuroendocrinology of Parental Response to Baby‐Cry (2011) · cites this paper as [36]
In humans, OT plays key roles in social bonding in general, as well as specific aspects of maternal brain function, including vaginal delivery, breastfeeding, and parental sensitivity.
“In humans, OT plays key roles in social bonding in general (29), as well as specific aspects of maternal brain function (30), including: (i) vaginal delivery (31); (ii) breastfeeding (32); and (iii) parental sensitivity (33–36).”
From Neuroendocrinology of Parental Response to Baby‐Cry (2011) · cites this paper as [36]
Recent intranasal oxytocin administration experiments have shown that oxytocin stimulates sensitive parenting.
“Recent intranasal oxytocin administration experiments have shown that oxytocin stimulates sensitive parenting (Naber et al., 2010) and a range of other social behaviors (for a review see Bartz et al. (2011)).”
From Oxytocin effects on complex brain networks are moderated by experiences of maternal love withdrawal (2013) · cites this paper as Naber et al., 2010
Cites
Oxytocin increases trust in humans
Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03701 · Cited by 3,690 · see citing works
Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091 · see citing works
Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans
Domes, G., Heinrichs, M., Michel, A., Berger, C., & Herpertz, S. C. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.015 · Cited by 1,298 · see citing works
Knobil and Neill's Physiology of Reproduction
(2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/c2011-1-07288-0 · Cited by 1,276 · see citing works
Oxytocin increases generosity in humans
Zak, P. J., Stanton, A. A., & Ahmadi, S. (2007) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001128 · Cited by 831 · see citing works
Feldman, R., Weller, A., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Levine, A. (2007) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02010.x · Cited by 787 · see citing works
Adult attachment predicts maternal brain and oxytocin response to infant cues.
Strathearn, L., Fonagy, P., Amico, J., & Montague, P. R. (2009) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2009.103 · Cited by 773 · see citing works
Feldman, R., Gordon, I., Schneiderman, I., Weisman, O., & Zagoory-Sharon, O. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.01.013 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2008) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsn004 · Cited by 474 · see citing works
Self-citationCarter, C. S. (1992) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/s0149-7634(05)80176-9 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Neuropeptides and the evolution of social behavior
Insel, T. (2000) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/s0959-4388(00)00146-x · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Integrative Functions of Lactational Hormones in Social Behavior and Stress Managementa
Carter, C. S., & Altemus, M. M. (1997) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb51918.x · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Reduction of plasma oxytocin levels in patients suffering from major depression.
Frasch, A., Zetzsche, D. A., Steiger, A., & Jirikowski, G. F. (1995) · PubMed · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review
Lindquist, K. A., Wager, T. D., Kober, H., Bliss-Moreau, E., & Barrett, L. F. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11000446 · Cited by 2,320 · see citing works
“Second, in a study by Naber et al. (2010), administration of oxytocin increased sensitive parental emotions and behaviors, assessed by videotaped play session.”
Oxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain: social neuropeptides for translational medicine
Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Domes, G., Kirsch, P., & Heinrichs, M. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3044 · Cited by 1,688 · see citing works
Hostinar, C. E., Sullivan, R. M., & Gunnar, M. R. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0032671 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
Tost, H., Kolachana, B., Hakimi, S., Lemaitre, H., Verchinski, B. A., Mattay, V. S., Weinberger, D. R., & Meyer–Lindenberg, A. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1003296107 · Cited by 564 · see citing works
De Dreu, C. K. W. (2012) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.12.009 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
Bos, P. A., Panksepp, J., Bluthé, R.-M., & Honk, J. V. (2012) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2011.01.002 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2013) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/tp.2013.34 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Riem, M. M. E., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Pieper, S., Tops, M., Boksem, M. A. S., Vermeiren, R. R. J. M., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Rombouts, S. A. R. B. (2011) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.02.006 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.07.008 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Lucassen, N., Tharner, A., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Volling, B. L., Verhulst, F. C., Lambregtse-Van den Berg, M. P., & Tiemeier, H. (2011) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025855 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Self-citationThe animal and human neuroendocrinology of social cognition, motivation and behavior
McCall, C., & Singer, T. (2012) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3084 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Bales, K. L., Perkeybile, A. M., Conley, O. G., Lee, M. H., Guoynes, C. D., Downing, G. M., Yun, C. R., Solomon, M., Jacob, S., & Mendoza, S. P. (2013) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.08.025 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
The Role of Oxytocin in Mother-Infant Relations: A Systematic Review of Human Studies
Galbally, M., Lewis, A. J., van IJzendoorn, M., & Permezel, M. (2011) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/10673229.2011.549771 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Self-citationThe cross-generation transmission of oxytocin in humans
Feldman, R., Gordon, I., & Zagoory-Sharon, O. (2010) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.06.005 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Weisman, O., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2012) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.011 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Riem, M. M. E., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Tops, M., Boksem, M. A. S., Rombouts, S. A. R. B., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2011.313 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Self-citationMacDonald, K., & Feifel, D. (2013) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2013.00035 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Intranasal administration of oxytocin: behavioral and clinical effects, a review
Veening, J. G., & Olivier, B. (2013) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.012 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Birth of a Father: Fathering in the First 1,000 Days
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Lotz, A., Alyousefi-van Dijk, K., & van IJzendoorn, M. (2019) · Child Development Perspectives · doi:10.1111/cdep.12347 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Self-citationMiller, M., Bales, K. L., Taylor, S. L., Yoon, J., Hostetler, C. M., Carter, C. S., & Solomon, M. (2013) · Autism Research · doi:10.1002/aur.1270 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Maud, C., Ryan, J., McIntosh, J. E., & Olsson, C. A. (2018) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1740-9 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Oxytocin Modulates Neural Reactivity to Children's Faces as a Function of Social Salience
Wittfoth-Schardt, D., Gründing, J., Wittfoth, M., Lanfermann, H., Heinrichs, M., Domes, G., Buchheim, A., Gündel, H., & Waller, C. (2012) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2012.47 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Elevated salivary levels of oxytocin persist more than 7 h after intranasal administration
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bhandari, R., van der Veen, R., Grewen, K. M., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2012.00174 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Self-citationMacDonald, K., MacDonald, T. M., Brüne, M., Lamb, K., Wilson, M. P., Golshan, S., & Feifel, D. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.05.014 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships
Hurlemann, R., & Scheele, D. (2016) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.013 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Lane, A., Luminet, O., Nave, G., & Mikolajczak, M. (2016) · Journal of Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1111/jne.12384 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Riem, M. M. E., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Out, D., & Rombouts, S. A. R. B. (2012) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2012.727252 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Self-citationSex, Receptors, and Attachment: A Review of Individual Factors Influencing Response to Oxytocin
MacDonald, K. S. (2013) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2012.00194 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
De Dreu, C. K. W. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.10.003 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Oxytocin and vasopressin support distinct configurations of social synchrony
Apter-Levi, Y., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2014) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.10.052 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Neuroendocrinology of Parental Response to Baby‐Cry
Swain, J. E., Kim, P., & Ho, S. S. (2011) · Journal of Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2826.2011.02212.x · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality
Cardoso, C., Ellenbogen, M. A., & Linnen, A.-M. (2012) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-011-2527-6 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Feng, C., Lori, A., Waldman, I. D., Binder, E. B., Haroon, E., & Rilling, J. K. (2015) · Genes, Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1111/gbb.12234 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Oxytocin effects on complex brain networks are moderated by experiences of maternal love withdrawal
Riem, M. M. E., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Tops, M., Boksem, M. A. S., Rombouts, S. A. R. B., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2013) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.01.011 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Self-citationAntiaggressive activity of central oxytocin in male rats
Calcagnoli, F., de Boer, S. F., Althaus, M., den Boer, J. A., & Koolhaas, J. M. (2013) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-013-3124-7 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Pine, D. S., Gorodetsky, E. K., Goldman, D., & Blair, R. J. R. (2012) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2775-0 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Huffmeijer, R., Alink, L. R. A., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Tops, M. (2011) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00258 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“In particular its positive role in parenting (Feldman et al., 2007; Naber et al., 2010) and interpersonal trust (Baumgartner et al., 2008; Theodoridou et al., 2009; De Dreu et al., 2010; Declerck et al., 2010) has been documented.”
BackgroundSelf-citationEllenbogen, M. A., Linnen, A., Grumet, R., Cardoso, C., & Joober, R. (2012) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01278.x · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Ellenbogen, M. A., Linnen, A.-M., Cardoso, C., & Joober, R. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.06.016 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Mierop, A., Mikolajczak, M., Stahl, C., Béna, J., Luminet, O., Lane, A., & Corneille, O. (2020) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620921525 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Bos, P. A., Hechler, C., Beijers, R., Shinohara, K., Esposito, G., & de Weerth, C. (2018) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.07.013 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Challenging the challenge hypothesis on testosterone in fathers: Limited meta-analytic support
Meijer, W. M., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans - Kranenburg, M. J. (2019) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104435 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationCohen-Bendahan, C. C. C., Beijers, R., van Doornen, L. J. P., & de Weerth, C. (2015) · Infant Behavior and Development · doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2015.06.007 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Intranasal oxytocin modulates neural functional connectivity during human social interaction
Rilling, J. K., Chen, X., Chen, X., & Haroon, E. (2018) · American Journal of Primatology · doi:10.1002/ajp.22740 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development
Tarsha, M. S., & Narvaez, D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113944 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Wang, J., Tai, F., & Lai, X. (2014) · Neuropeptides · doi:10.1016/j.npep.2013.10.016 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
- Authors
- Naber, F., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Deschamps, P., van Engeland, H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- ORCID
- Deschamps, Peter
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-11
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1583-1586
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2101818734
- Cited by
- 222
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 31.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- oxytocin, fathers, parenting styles, father-child play, toddlers, hostility, parent training, intranasal administration
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Child, Preschool, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Family, Fathers, Female, Humans, Infant, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Oxytocin, Play and Playthings
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
